It was very smooth on paper... Roscosmos "conquered" Mars with a model of the space tug "Zeus"

Specialists of the KB "Arsenal" enterprise (part of the state corporation "Roscosmos") propose to create a nuclear power plant on the future Russian base on Mars (!!!) to supply the infrastructure with electricity, and use technologies developed for a nuclear space tug as the reactor itself, RIA reported News.

The Martian nuclear power plant is proposed to be delivered to the orbit of the Red Planet as part of the nuclear tug "Zeus", and then dropped to the surface by parachute. After landing, "activation of the nuclear power plant (nuclear power plant. - editor's note)" and "power supply of the Martian base" take place.

In addition, according to the developers of this idea, the nuclear tug "Zeus", equipped with means of relaying signals, will make it possible to organize "a high-speed channel for transmitting information to Earth from the surface of Mars and spacecraft in Mars orbit."

In addition to civilian tasks - to provide communications, to deliver cargo in the Earth's orbit and to the Moon, Zeus is intended mainly for military purposes, it is planned to use it to disable potential adversaries with an electromagnetic pulse and "fire" a laser. The nuclear tug will be able to illuminate air targets from orbit, and information about the detected objects will be transmitted to air defense systems. "

Journalist Vasily Alenin comments on these grandiose plans in his blog:

"Yes, son, this is fantastic".

Propaganda continues the campaign on space exploration on paper, feeding the citizens with another portion of fantastic plans. Testing of Zeus in orbit should begin in 2030! But there is a "model of a tug" and "three-dimensional graphics of its work in space." This is presented as an achievement.

The authorities of the country, which have not been able to send a rover to the red planet for 20 years, are concocting about a "nuclear power plant" that will be dropped by parachute by a nonexistent "Zeus" on Mars to "power the Martian base".

Having lost space to the United States, yielding in competition with China, the Russian authorities are trying to create the impression that "we" are still ahead. That's for sure. In drawing plans and the lack of their implementation, no one beats..."

Indeed, these projections are perceived very strange against the background of the latest achievements in the exploration of Mars, which China is demonstrating, not to mention the grandiose space successes of Elon Musk's company.